Friday 19 February 2010 08.42 EST
First published on Friday 19 February 2010 08.42 EST

Three golds won in week one of the 2010 Olympics and Canada expects plenty more, as every host nation would. But when it comes to the men's ice hockey team expectation turns into deep yearning. There is more than precious metal at stake, there is national identity, as the prime minister, Stephen Harper, helpfully – or perhaps unhelpfully – explained ­before the games started.

"I can't off-hand think of anything in any country where any team would be under such universal expectation of a gold and nothing less," Harper told Sports ­Illustrated. If Gordon Brown were to be so unguarded before the England football team's departure to South Africa for this summer's World Cup it would be a national talking point for days. The radio phone-in shows would have a field day. It was, and they did, in Canada, before a consensus was reached: Harper was spot on. Even the team agrees.

"Are we feeling pressure? Oh yes," said the Team Canada coach, Mike Babcock, ­after his team had squeezed past Switzerland 3-2 on Thursday night courtesy of a shoot-out goal by the Wayne Rooney of Nova Scotia, Sidney "Sid the Kid" Crosby "We had a ton of emotion and sometimes it got the better of us. It you don't ­relish the pressure, then it can be a great ­equaliser."

It certainly can, as the 19,000 fans who crammed into the Canada Hockey Place witnessed. Like the Tardis in reverse, the venue looks big outside and feels small inside; a raucous, colourful amplifying chamber, where the chants of Go Canada Go assault the ears with the relentlessness of Metallica's greatest hits. It is an awe-­inspiring sight and sound but not, ­perhaps, if you happen to be ­wearing a ­maple leaf on your chest and hockey skates on your feet.

Two goals up halfway through the game, the home team ­suddenly faltered, giving back two goals and almost losing a third. Too nervy. Too ­elaborate. Too weighted down by the expectations of a ­nation? Even Crosby, the "Next One", the heir ­apparent to Wayne Gretzky, the "Great One", was momentarily anonymous, or least he was until it came to the game ending shoot-out, where he slipped the puck past the Swiss goaltender, Jonas Hiller, to secure two points.

The explosion of noise that followed was one half exuberance and the other half relief. Four years ago, the Swiss ­famously beat the Canadians 2-0 but not for ­nothing has that match gone down in the annals as the "Miracle of Turin". This was a lucky escape and Crosby, the captain and the fulcrum of the Canadian team, knew it. "We are going to have to get better as we move forward," he said. "But the gold medal game isn't tomorrow – that is the good news."

The bad news is that the next ­closest thing to a gold medal game happens , when the Canadians will step on to the ice to face the United States. Crosby and his team-mates, a glittering collection of some of the best players in the National Hockey League, will need to be at or near their best. Canada were ­supposed to be favourites, but now?

The Swiss, who lost 3–1 to the US in its opening match, were in a position to ­provide an answer but, typically, chose the path of neutrality. "It is difficult to compare the two teams," said their coach, Ralph Krueger, when asked for a ­prediction. "Both teams have a lot of top-class ­players. It is an honour to play against them but we are worried only about ourselves, not the other teams who are here."

In the context of this tournament, the match does not carry too much weight – both teams are heavily favoured to ­advance to the knock-out stages. But in the context of a complicated cross-­border relationship the game means everything.

Speak to an American and they will tell you there are not many things to feel ­inferior about when looking north. Speak to a Canadian and they will point to many things, with hockey to the fore. And if you give them a little encouragement they will remind you of the 2002 Olympic final when Canada, managed by the great Gretzky, defeated the US at Salt Lake City to win the gold.

It took eight years, and last week's opening ceremony, for the television ­audience record set that glorious night to be beaten. If the demand for tickets for the US match is anything to go by – touts would sell them for £5,000, if only they could get their hands on any – then expect the record to be beaten again on Sunday. And it will be beaten again if the home team were to progress to next Sunday's final.

"There are important sports in ­Canada – our own football, lacrosse – [but] ­nothing does compete with hockey. It's on a ­different plane, to the extent where, rightly or wrongly, people see these sports as deeply reflective of the character of the nation," Harper explained. ­"Canadians are thought of as peace-loving, fair minded and pleasant – which we are. But that is not inconsistent with tough and ­aggressive and ambitious."

He is right and for proof of that just take a walk through the ­deserted streets of Vancouver on Sunday. Peace-loving or aggressive, pleasant or tough, Canadians will all be indoors, nursing their ­expectations and watching the hockey.